The Kindness of Strangers (Friday the 13th Part II)

We had just about decided to turn around when we heard the faint buzzing of what sounded like a snowmobile. Soon enough a light appeared in the darkness and was zooming toward us. The snowmobile approached us and stopped, and there was the “father figure” from our group. Apparently he had been stuck several times in the last few hours. We loaded my wife and child onto the back of the snowmobile and off they zoomed. We were assured that a friendly group of snowmobilers that were in the area would stop and help us. What a lucky chance, we were saved, at last. We went a little further and three snowmobiles approached. They stopped and chatted with me (I was slightly ahead of the other two with the baby) and told me that they would help but that they didn’t have enough gas, so we were on our own. My hopes suddenly died again. I wasn’t worried about myself, but I felt bad for my sister-in-law and her baby. Off the three men zoomed. They stopped and talked with the others and then came back in my direction. One went down the hill to call their families and my sister-in-law was on the back of one of the two quickly approaching me. I guess somehow they had gotten more gas and had changed their minds when they saw the baby. My sister-in-law’s husband stayed behind and they offered me a ride. I was so tired I didn’t care. I got on and off we zoomed.
It was a bumpy ride but I was just glad that it would soon all be over. The lead machine stopped and the two drivers conferred with one another. They weren’t sure if this was the right path but they thought it might be. The lead driver decided he would head up the trail a bit farther and then come back and tell us if it was right. He left the woman and child and took off. The rest of us waited and made small talk until he returned. He said that it didn’t look familiar but he was sure that was the way, plus there was a man and a woman that were stuck on the trail. We all got back on and took off up the hill. The machine I was on suddenly dug itself into a hole and the back of the machine was buried in snow up to the seat back. The driver and I got off and heaved the heavy end of the machine out of the snow. He tried again and again it dug down. We did this two more times before we got the machine free. Meanwhile the other machine was long gone. The driver of the machine I was on drove it up a small hill so as not to get stuck again and guess what I had to “climb” up the hill to meet him. Not such an easy task in waist deep snow. I was so tired I could barely lift my legs, so finally I just got on all fours and crawled as best I could up the hill. I felt pathetic but I didn’t care. We got on and zoomed up the hill. After a brief ride we saw the couple that was stuck and the driver of the other snowmobile that was with us had just gotten them freed. Apparently they had been stuck here for three hours and had already dug a snow cave ready to spend the night. If felt good knowing that they could now go home, but if they had been there for three hours and didn’t see anyone then that meant we were on the wrong trail. We all turned around and went back to square one, where we had started. We got there expecting to see my brother-in-law, but he was already gone, picked up by the father or our group. Oh man, what a night. In the meantime, the third member of our rescuers had come back up the hill and he knew where we needed to go. After another long cold, bumpy ride we saw the glow of light from the windows of the yurt. Finally our ordeal was over and we could step into the warmth of the room with a roaring fire. We thanked our rescuers and assured them that they saved our lives. Off they zoomed and we stumbled into the yurt. My wife greeted me along with my brother-in-law who were all wondering where we were at. I realized that it was still quite cold in the yurt and was informed that they had problems getting the fire started and it had just only been lit. So we all huddled around the stove and told the story of our grand adventure. We were all safe, and getting warm and things were better.

Now that I think back, it doesn’t seem that bad but at the time I was very worried. Many prayers were answered that night, and I will be eternally grateful for the kindness of strangers.